COLUMBIA, S.C. — The University of South Carolina women’s cross country team leaves Columbia for a short trip upstate Friday morning, chasing a second trip to the NCAA championship meet at the Southeast Regional in Spartanburg. The gun goes off at 10 a.m. on the 6K course at the Roger Milliken Center.
The Gamecocks arrive ranked No. 9 nationally by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, the highest ranking in program history. The Nov. 3 poll topped earlier marks of No. 11 and No. 12 set this fall.
Getting through will not be easy. Forty-four teams are entered, and seven of them sit in the national top 25, more than in any of the other eight regions. Among them are second-ranked NC State, 12th-ranked Clemson and Virginia Tech at 14th, plus North Carolina, Duke and Virginia, ranked 18th, 19th and 22nd.
South Carolina is coming off a third-place team finish at the Oct. 30 SEC Championships in Columbia, Missouri, where it scored a program-record 110 points behind Alabama and Florida. Ten of its 11 runners set personal bests that day, and Salma Elbadra placed third individually while lowering two of her own school records.
Nine Gamecocks will race Friday, the nine who ran the fastest 6K times at the SEC meet. Last season the program reached its first NCAA Championship Meet and placed 15th.
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